The whole Cali wildfire thing is pretty hard to believe.

[mk11]

A fascinating look into the '61 Bel Air conflagration. Lots of beautiful old fire apparatus in the film too.

 

[stavanzer]

And now you have the Lithium Battery Storage Facility (the So Called "Power Plant"..) on fire in Moss Landing, up near Richmond CA , near the Bay Area. The Batteries supposedly re-lit back on fire after being put out this morning. More Fire in Cali.

[Ace-Garageguy]

 

[Tim W. SoCal]

46 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

 

In this group of fires, I've seen lots and LOTS of pictures of destroyed cars and motorcycles that just want to make me break down and cry. I can't imagine the pain and anguish and misery of those actually suffering these devastating losses. The Ortega fires in Orange County a few years back were almost as bad...

[1972coronet]

Lifelong resident of southern California ( first 32 years 15 miles east of Downtown L.A. ; past 23 years in southwest Riverside county), and I can tell anyone who's willing to listen that those Los Vientos del Diablo ( Santa Ana Winds, et alia ) have done precisely what Mother Nature directs them to do : blow seeds, soil, etc., etc., around, followed by more rain which pushes those elements into the ground, for longer than we've been here... and will continue to do so long after we're gone.

I can't stand the stupid Devil Wind anymore than most residents - allergies go through the roof, sometimes causing a secondary bacterial infection ( i.e., bronchitis... like I'm currently fighting ).

But who am I in the grand scheme of things ? I'm simply in the way of Mother Nature.

Joan Didion was fond of including the Santa Ana in her writings ( I highly recommend reading her non-fiction works ) . 

This is from Slouching Towards Bethlehem  (1968) :

  The Santa Anas.pdf

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

...Joan Didion was fond of including the Santa Ana in her writings...

I seem to remember reading it in either Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler too...

[1972coronet]

47 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I seem to remember reading it in either Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler too...

Oh, absolutely. She mentions them in her writings, too. 

My mum had (now I have) both Slouching and White Album (1979). She let me read them ( however, her books such as Shogun, Boys from Brasil , Rosemary's Baby, and Roots were off-limits to me... haha) when I was young, and I loved them straight away.  I have subsequently purchased "Slouching..." and "White Album" for my collection - I don't want to dig into her original , hardbound copies. 

[mk11]

On 1/20/2025 at 1:29 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

 

I would imagine beyond the valuable cars lost, there are hobbyists like us suffering the loss of model trains, cars, ships and aircraft painstakingly collected and built over the years too

[Ace-Garageguy]

Just now, mk11 said:

I would imagine beyond the valuable cars lost, there are hobbyists like us suffering the loss of model trains, cars, ships and aircraft painstakingly collected and built over the years too

Yup, all very sad. And there are new fires "breaking out" today.

Spontaneous combustion? Somehow I kinda doubt it.

[slusher]

I don’t think it will ever be the same in California. I often wonder if they could be foul plat involved ..

[Bugatti Fan]

In the grand scheme of things all the expensive cars that were lost become insignificant.

The most precious thing to be saved was people's lives under these circumstances ! 

It is also very regrettable though that family memorabilia like photographs and so on once lost are irretrieveable. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Drone operator whose toy struck and grounded one of the firebomber aircraft apprehended...

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Very disappointing that he was allowed a plea deal. He is old enough to know better and should have had the book thrown at him.

[Rodent]

15 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Very disappointing that he was allowed a plea deal. He is old enough to know better and should have had the book thrown at him.

I haven't heard anything regarding sentencing yet, just that he pleaded guilty. That saves the taxpayers untold dollars proving that he did it. He could still get time in federal prison and a pretty hefty fine. I was surprised to see how old he is. I (wrongfully) assumed he was some millennial looking for YouTube, X, FakeBook, etc. views.

[Aaronw]

On 2/1/2025 at 8:04 AM, bobthehobbyguy said:

Very disappointing that he was allowed a plea deal. He is old enough to know better and should have had the book thrown at him.

 

The laws on drone incursions are way behind the times and technology. In the recent past it has only been comparable to driving without a valid drivers license. I know in 2017 on a fire in Arizona that burned around 30,000 acres and 2 dozen structures, they caught a man who had caused a grounding of all the firefighting aircraft because he was flying his drone in the fire area to get footage. He ended up just getting a fine because all the could really charge him with was improper use of a drone. I don't think it was even a particularly big fine something like $500-1000. Hopefully they kept his drone which may have been a bigger hit than the fine.

 

In this case they could probably go after actual damages to the aircraft, but I believe penalties are still just limited to fines.

 

You can fly some pretty large drones with no license or training, I think up to 50 or 60lbs. 

Edited February 6 by Aaronw

[Rodent]

1 hour ago, Aaronw said:

In this case they could probably go after actual damages to the aircraft, but I believe penalties are still just limited to fines.

I would have to go back and look at the story I read yesterday, but for his guilty plea I believe he was given 150 community service hours related to the SoCal fires and made to pay restitution for the damage to the plane. I believe that amount is around $65k.

[Aaronw]

9 hours ago, Rodent said:

I would have to go back and look at the story I read yesterday, but for his guilty plea I believe he was given 150 community service hours related to the SoCal fires and made to pay restitution for the damage to the plane. I believe that amount is around $65k.

That is a step in the right direction. I was looking earlier today and it appears the FAA can now fine up to $20,000 and / or a year in jail for illegal use of a drone so at least a bit more bite to the laws than they were a few years ago. That is the Federal side, the State may have its own laws it can pursue. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

14 hours ago, Aaronw said:

That is a step in the right direction. I was looking earlier today and it appears the FAA can now fine up to $20,000 and / or a year in jail for illegal use of a drone so at least a bit more bite to the laws than they were a few years ago. That is the Federal side, the State may have its own laws it can pursue. 

The firebomber operator probably has civil options too, like recovering cost of repairs (obviously), but also a large chunk of change for lost revenue while the plane was grounded. 

If it was MY airplane, I'd go after the moron with both barrels to make an example to the rest of the drone-flying twerples out there.

Imagine if the drone strike had been on a prop or the windshield. We could be looking at a whole helluva lot more...maybe the loss of the entire aircraft and dead pilots.

Edited February 7 by Ace-Garageguy